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by Linda Poitevin, guest blogger and author of A Fairy Tale for Gwyn.

By the time I wrote A Fairy Tale for Gwyn (AFTFG), I had been writing “seriously” (aiming for publication) for about nine years. In that time, and in between various other life events, I had completed two other manuscripts, one of which never saw the light of day (and never will) and the other of which had been rejected by every publisher I sent it to.

The truth is, I went into my writing career with a pretty fair-sized ego – and the main reason my first two manuscripts will never see publication is because I wasn’t ready to learn the craft of writing. Well-meaning relatives told me I had a gift, you see, and I believed them. When my second complete manuscript tanked, however, I began to rethink my approach to writing, and to be a LOT more open to the advice being given by my very patient critique partners. So when I began work on AFTFG, I also began learning my craft. I’d like to share three of the lessons I’ve learned with you.

Lesson One: External conflict isn’t enough. While the universe may be conspiring to keep our hero/heroine apart, our characters’ own personal demons need to be in on the act. If a real estate developer is trying to turn an apartment building into luxury condos, you can see how the attractive lawyer hired by the neighbours might not want to become involved with him. If the real estate developer’s entire family is depending on him to pull off this one project because the business started by his great-grandfather will fold without it, we up the stakes a little. And if opposing counsel’s grandmother is one of the homeowners facing eviction, things get even more tense. But those are all external conflicts: events happening outside of our characters. If our developer is the prodigal son trying to earn his way back into the family, however, and the attractive lawyer feels honor-bound to look after the grandmother who paid her way through law school...then we have internal conflict. And that brings us to...

Lesson Two: Character development. You may never use half the information you compile, but you must know your characters almost as well as you know yourself. Actually, you may end up knowing them better, because we rarely question our own motives the way a writer needs to question her characters. If the heroine’s favourite color is blue (and this factors into your story), you need to know why. Does it remind her of something from her childhood? Her grandmother’s eyes? Know what drives your hero and heroine, what they like and dislike, what they’re afraid of, what their goals are, and what holds them back from achieving those goals. The better you know them, the more believable they’ll be to your reader. And the easier it will be to uncover those internal conflicts.

Lesson Three: Some of the good stuff has to go. In my first draft of AFTFG, I’d written a hot dance scene. A really hot dance scene. I loved that scene, but it honestly didn’t fit with the story. It took me weeks to stop trying to make it work and set it aside, but the lesson was invaluable. So be honest with yourself. Be honest with your story. If it doesn’t work, let it go and move on.

So there you have them: three of the many, many lessons I’ve learned from writing this story. Three of the many, many more I expect I will continue to learn as I continue to write, because I don’t think I’ll ever stop learning. I certainly hope not, because really, isn’t the biggest lesson in life that the learning never ends?

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Gwyn Jacobs doesn’t believe in happy-ever-after.

Ever since her ex-husband walked out four years ago, abandoning her with a toddler and infant twins, Gwyn has been mother, father, and bread-winner all rolled into one. Her own scarred heart and failed marriage aside, she is determined not to open up her children’s lives to the possibility of another heartbreak...until her very own fairy tale falls into her lap -- and the hero won’t take no for an answer!

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Excerpt:

Gareth emerged from the bathroom as she reached the top hallway, the gurgle of draining water from the bathtub accompanying his appearance.

“All done,” he said, a triumphant look on his face, a bucket of congealed ick in his hand, and his soaked shirt molded to the lean six-pack beneath it.

Gwyn clutched at her resolve with both hands and moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. What was it she’d intended to say? Oh, yes.

“Thank you,” she said. She set the books on the folded clothes and shifted the basket to her other hip. “I’m sorry if I sounded ungrateful earlier. I really do appreciate your help. Not just today, but all of it. I don’t know what I’d have done without you this last couple of days.”

Gareth shook his head at her, looking both amused and exasperated. “You sound like a kid who’s been coached in what to say to some cantankerous old uncle. You don’t have to apologize, Gwyn.”

“I just don’t want you to think I’m not grateful.”

“I never thought that,” he told her, smiling in a slow way that had her toes digging into the hall carpet-runner. “Besides, I’m enjoying myself.”

“Entertaining my sick kids and cleaning out my bathtub?” she asked dryly, hiding her involuntary reaction behind skepticism.

“No, being with you.” Gareth dropped a towel onto the floor near the top of the stairs and set the bucket on top of it.

But before Gwyn could do more than draw a startled breath at his unexpected, and confounding honesty, he added, “I’ve missed out on the family thing, remember? It’s nice to be a part of yours for a while.”

Oh.

“And besides, I have ulterior motives.” He plucked at his soaking, oatmeal-flecked shirt. “You wouldn’t happen to have something dry I could borrow, would you?”

“Pardon?”

“Something dry.”

Gwyn refrained from shaking her head to clear it, feeling very much like she’d fallen three steps behind in this conversation. “Yes, of course.”  Sandy’s husband, Rob, had left a sweatshirt behind on a visit once that she kept forgetting to return. It might be snug, but “I meant pardon about the other thing. What ulterior motives?”

Gareth began unbuttoning his shirt. “Sorry, that’s a secret.”

He hadn’t moved in her direction, but she couldn’t help but shift the basket again, holding it like a barrier between them. The temperature in the hallway seemed to have risen several degrees, flushing her cheeks with heat and turning her mouth dry.

“A s-s-secret?”

Lord, ‘s’ was a hard sound to make with your tongue cleaved to the roof of your mouth. She tried very hard to keep her eyes on his face rather than the fascinating trail his hands were taking. The heat in her cheeks snaked a slow, tantalizing path to other parts of her anatomy. Any resolve she’d had when she’d climbed the stairs became a fleeting memory.

“Mm. But I’ll give you a hint. It hinges on kids recovering and turning their mother free again.”

Gareth slid the shirt from his shoulders and Gwyn’s knees very nearly buckled. The laundry basket shook in her grasp and she forgot all about not staring. The big screen didn’t even come close to doing the man justice.

His shoulders…broad, defined, offering a woman’s head a sanctuary like none she’d ever known. His chest, deep, powerful, inviting her touch, and promising.

Gareth cleared his throat and Gwyn’s gaze flew back to his. As if she’d spoken her every thought aloud, his eyes danced with mischief and smoldered with something darker, deeper.

“A dry shirt?” he reminded her huskily.

She fled.

Buy: A Fairy Tale For Gwyn

Buy AFTFG on Wild Rose Press.

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Author Bio

Linda Poitevin lives just outside Canada’s capital, Ottawa, with her husband, three daughters, and a varied collection of animals. In her spare time, she gardens (organically), cans and freezes the family’s winter fruit and vegetable supply, knits (basically), crochets (better), and starts way more projects than she ever finishes. (Fortunately that doesn’t hold true of her books!) She loves spending time with her family, having coffee with friends, walking by the river and watching thunderstorms…in about that order.

Giveaway: Linda will be giving away a pair of artisan-crafted earrings as well as a $10 gift certificate to The Wild Rose Press (a total prize package worth $20) to one lucky commenter during the blog tour. Comment here and on other blogs to enter and increase your chance to win. Ends February 5, 2010.

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Contemporary, Guest Blogger, P-R, Writing Tips

Tags:

apartment building, critique partners, external conflict, external conflicts, fairy tale, grandmother, great grandfather, gwyn, heroine, law school, Linda Poitevin, luxury condos, manuscripts, neighbours, nine years, personal demons, prodigal son, real estate developer, well meaning